Volcano beats The Street but guides low for 2012

Volcano Corp. (NSDQ:VOLC) blew away analysts’ expectations for the 4th quarter and 2011, but lost some love on Wall Street over its low guidance for 2012.

The San Diego-based company reported a 14% bump in sales to $92.7 million, compared to $81.2 million for the same period in 2010, and $29.4 million in profit, compared to a loss of $1.7 million during Q4 2010. That translates to 54 cents EPS – 14 cents EPS on an adjusted basis, nearly triple analysts’ expectations of 5 cents apiece.

Volcano raked in $343.5 million in revenues for 2011, a 17% jump over $294.1 million in 2010, driven by a 23% bump for its medical products segment. Volcano’s industrial segment posted a 52% sales decline.

Full-year earnings soared to $38.1 million, or 70 cents per diluted share, up a whopping 633% over $5.2 million, or 10 cents per diluted share, during 2010.

Although adjusted EPS for 2011 was bolstered by 40 cents due to the release of a portion of the company’s deferred tax valuation allowance in the 4th quarter, adjusted EPS of 30 cents still beat analysts’ full-year expectations of 21 cents.

The company forecast its 2012 earnings in the range of $392 million to $399 million, or 21-24 cents EPS, falling short of analysts’ prediction of 30 cents for next year.

VOLC shares slid a bit on The Street following its after-market-close release. Shares opened at $25.52 this morning before regaining ground to trade at $27.87 as of about 1:00 p.m. today – still a 1% drop from last night’s $28.18 close.

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